The Pens’ three goals in less than a minute marked an impressive feat, but that wasn’t even close to the all-time record set 45 years ago.
As same-state rivals, there’s always a little extra flair when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers square off. Saturday night, the two Pennsylvania clubs went head-to-head for the first time this season and the reigning Stanley Cup champions wasted little time flashing the skill that earned them the title in 2015-16, scoring three times in just 55 seconds late in the first period en route to a 5-4 win.
The Flyers had earned a 2-0 lead off goals by Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds in the first period before Penguins captain Sidney Crosby – in just his third game of the season after recovering from a concussion – got Pittsburgh on the board with a sharp-angle snap shot basically from the goal line.
Forty-three seconds later, with Pittsburgh on the power play, Crosby one-timed a feed from Patric Hornqvist in the slot for his second tally of the night and fourth in three games to tie things up, 2-2.
Just 12 seconds after that, Flyers goalie Steve Mason’s clearing attempt around the boards from behind the net was intercepted by Pittsburgh winger Tom Kuhnhackl. He fired the puck off the side of the net before Matt Cullen collected the rebound and put a wraparound attempt past Mason for the Pens’ third goal in less than a minute to give them the lead.
Three goals by one team in 55 seconds seems like an incredible feat, but it’s actually not even close to the NHL record. That distinction belongs to the 1970-71 Boston Bruins, who buried three in just 20(!) seconds in an 8-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 25, 1971.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvUWds7YipQ[/embed]
And if you thought three goals in 20 seconds by one team was impressive, how about three goals by one player in 21 seconds? That’s what Bill Mosienko did on March 23, 1952, helping his Chicago Black Hawks to a 7-6 win over the New York Rangers.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E70PL_tW6Z0[/embed]